Letters to the editor for Monday, December 31, 2012

Published: Monday, December 31, 2012 at 5:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, December 30, 2012 at 3:31 p.m.

State is too forgiving

The Dec. 25 News-Journal had a story on the front page of the Local section about two groups that got together to give food and lodging to homeless vets. Thank God for these wonderful people, and everyone who gives to those who have little — and sometimes nothing.

But on page 3C, there's an article on how the state of Florida is "forgiving" taxes and fines in the amount of $124.2 million of various companies, corporations, health care providers, people who were overpaid unemployment benefits, and even some elected public officials.

In 2011, the state wrote off $110.5 million and $109 million the year before. What? Does anyone realize how far that money could go to help the homeless and children who go to bed hungry every night in the richest country in the world?

Names and addresses of the people who owe this money are kept confidential under state law. I am outraged by this entire situation, and encourage everyone else that this offends to contact their representatives in the Legislature and demand that something be done so this abuse stops.

ELIZABETH QUAGLIETTA

Port Orange

Use common sense on guns

To those of you who agree with or support the groups pushing the gun-control laws: All of you are apparently lacking the common sense you should possess in order to debate the subject. First, as always, the weapon did not commit an act of violence nor did the ammunition, the person in possession of the weapon did.

The legislation being proposed to control guns, ammunition, magazine limits, etc., has no bearing on the subject of the crime committed, due to the fact that this most recent crime could be committed with any weapon, not just the ones named.

Sadly, the fact is there is no way we can ever stop this from happening again. We could ban all firearms and eventually someone is going to commit this action again using whatever is at their disposal.

The truth is we have taken life throughout history, but our government officials see this tragedy as an opportunity to get on the soapbox, create more government, and spend more money. The only logical proposals that have followed this recent event are the tightening of school security.

If these new gun laws are enacted, we will not have removed a threat so long as there are still troubled people among us. We have already instituted gun laws, and yet we still hear of gun violence quite frequently, so before jumping in and backing this next level of government control, educate yourselves on who you are actually helping and what it will cost us all.

STEVEN COULON

Edgewater

Can't fight fire with fire

The front section of The News-Journal on Christmas Day contained the following articles, all on the same page: "Police officer among 2 shot dead in Texas," "Officer death: killed while still on duty," "New York gunman set trap for firefighters."

In the first two instances, the victims were armed, trained and on duty. Their weapons did them no good. In the third case, an automatic rifle was used on unsuspecting firefighters. In talking about armed protection of our schools, remember that the federal building blown up by Timothy McVeigh had armed guards. Their weapons did them no good either.

To the proponents of armed guards in our schools, I have only one question. How will your handguns hold up against a semi-automatic rifle with a 30-bullet magazine? Or will you issue them AR-15 semi-automatic rifles for our kids to see?

ALAN JAY PARKS

Ormond Beach

Culture of violence hurts

Guns can't hurt and kill people, but as the saying goes, people hurt and kill people. The end-all solution is not to change the gun laws, because there are way too many guns out there already, and if someone wants a gun they will get one from somewhere.

Besides, not all violence against people involves a gun. The true problem is that people think it is OK to hurt and kill others. Human life has become desensitized. I believe the entertainment industry is the reason people do not value human life the way they should.

The entertainment industry has placed the value of human life on a downward spiral. Video games have become laced with violence and killing. Movies that contained violence and killing that were restricted to an R rating are now classified as PG. Prime time television has become sex talk and innuendos. Certain music genres are filled with violence, vulgar language and degradation to women.

Younger minds are being exposed to this 24/7. It is giving children and young adults a completely different perception of society and human life than previous generations. It may present itself as make-believe, but monitor how many hours individuals place themselves in front of these media depictions. Between video games and social media, who talks to anyone anymore, or even gets fresh air? It is going to have a negative effect, and become dangerous for people that don't have the mental capacity to separate make-believe from reality.

I am all for strengthening the gun laws but the desensitizing of human life and the dumbing-down of America has become the responsibility of the entertainment industry. Regulations need to be put in place or we can kiss civility goodbye.

JOE WASYLEAN

Ormond Beach

A deadly delay in action

Why do we always wait until something awful happens before we take action?

IRENE STACK

Palm Coast

We're all Americans

I propose a New Year's resolution for all Americans: Drop the hyphenation when identifying your nationality. Let's all be good old-fashioned Americans!

<p class="bold allcaps">State is too forgiving</p>
<p>The Dec. 25 News-Journal had a story on the front page of the Local section about two groups that got together to give food and lodging to homeless vets. Thank God for these wonderful people, and everyone who gives to those who have little &mdash; and sometimes nothing. </p><p>But on page 3C, there's an article on how the state of Florida is "forgiving" taxes and fines in the amount of $124.2 million of various companies, corporations, health care providers, people who were overpaid unemployment benefits, and even some elected public officials. </p><p>In 2011, the state wrote off $110.5 million and $109 million the year before. What? Does anyone realize how far that money could go to help the homeless and children who go to bed hungry every night in the richest country in the world? </p><p>Names and addresses of the people who owe this money are kept confidential under state law. I am outraged by this entire situation, and encourage everyone else that this offends to contact their representatives in the Legislature and demand that something be done so this abuse stops.</p><p><b>ELIZABETH QUAGLIETTA</p><p>Port Orange</b></p><h3>Use common sense on guns</h3>
<p>To those of you who agree with or support the groups pushing the gun-control laws: All of you are apparently lacking the common sense you should possess in order to debate the subject. First, as always, the weapon did not commit an act of violence nor did the ammunition, the person in possession of the weapon did. </p><p>The legislation being proposed to control guns, ammunition, magazine limits, etc., has no bearing on the subject of the crime committed, due to the fact that this most recent crime could be committed with any weapon, not just the ones named. </p><p>Sadly, the fact is there is no way we can ever stop this from happening again. We could ban all firearms and eventually someone is going to commit this action again using whatever is at their disposal. </p><p>The truth is we have taken life throughout history, but our government officials see this tragedy as an opportunity to get on the soapbox, create more government, and spend more money. The only logical proposals that have followed this recent event are the tightening of school security. </p><p>If these new gun laws are enacted, we will not have removed a threat so long as there are still troubled people among us. We have already instituted gun laws, and yet we still hear of gun violence quite frequently, so before jumping in and backing this next level of government control, educate yourselves on who you are actually helping and what it will cost us all.</p><p><b>STEVEN COULON</p><p>Edgewater</b></p><h3>Can't fight fire with fire</h3>
<p>The front section of The News-Journal on Christmas Day contained the following articles, all on the same page: "Police officer among 2 shot dead in Texas," "Officer death: killed while still on duty," "New York gunman set trap for firefighters." </p><p>In the first two instances, the victims were armed, trained and on duty. Their weapons did them no good. In the third case, an automatic rifle was used on unsuspecting firefighters. In talking about armed protection of our schools, remember that the federal building blown up by Timothy McVeigh had armed guards. Their weapons did them no good either. </p><p>To the proponents of armed guards in our schools, I have only one question. How will your handguns hold up against a semi-automatic rifle with a 30-bullet magazine? Or will you issue them AR-15 semi-automatic rifles for our kids to see?</p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p><b>ALAN JAY PARKS</p><p>Ormond Beach</b></p><h3>Culture of violence hurts</h3>
<p>Guns can't hurt and kill people, but as the saying goes, people hurt and kill people. The end-all solution is not to change the gun laws, because there are way too many guns out there already, and if someone wants a gun they will get one from somewhere. </p><p>Besides, not all violence against people involves a gun. The true problem is that people think it is OK to hurt and kill others. Human life has become desensitized. I believe the entertainment industry is the reason people do not value human life the way they should. </p><p>The entertainment industry has placed the value of human life on a downward spiral. Video games have become laced with violence and killing. Movies that contained violence and killing that were restricted to an R rating are now classified as PG. Prime time television has become sex talk and innuendos. Certain music genres are filled with violence, vulgar language and degradation to women. </p><p>Younger minds are being exposed to this 24/7. It is giving children and young adults a completely different perception of society and human life than previous generations. It may present itself as make-believe, but monitor how many hours individuals place themselves in front of these media depictions. Between video games and social media, who talks to anyone anymore, or even gets fresh air? It is going to have a negative effect, and become dangerous for people that don't have the mental capacity to separate make-believe from reality. </p><p>I am all for strengthening the gun laws but the desensitizing of human life and the dumbing-down of America has become the responsibility of the entertainment industry. Regulations need to be put in place or we can kiss civility goodbye.</p><p><b>JOE WASYLEAN</p><p>Ormond Beach</b></p><h3>A deadly delay in action</h3>
<p>Why do we always wait until something awful happens before we take action?</p><p><b>IRENE STACK</p><p>Palm Coast</b></p><h3>We're all Americans</h3>
<p>I propose a New Year's resolution for all Americans: Drop the hyphenation when identifying your nationality. Let's all be good old-fashioned Americans! </p><p>That means an end to describing ourselves (in alphabetical order) as African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, Portuguese-Americans, Russian-Americans, etc. </p><p>My ancestors, arriving at Ellis Island in the early 1900s, were proud to be Americans and never hyphenated their nationality. </p><p>Get the idea? Let's focus on what we have in common, which is probably more than our differences. And it may just help with the healing of our great country before it's too late.</p><p><b>PAT HAINES</p><p>Palm Coast</b></p>